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They’re two of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, rivals who spent more than decade battling for AFC supremacy.

On Friday, one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL today found himself accidentally involved in the debate about which signal caller, Brady or Manning, was the better player.

Lions cornerback Darius Slay told reporters Friday that he was excited to face Brady and the New England Patriots this week for the second time in his career, and that he’s “just going to be grateful to say what’s up to” Brady during the game.

He called Brady and Manning “the gurus” of quarterback play, and when a reporter asked about “picking” Brady, as in intercepting the former Michigan star, Slay jumped in and said he’d pick Manning as the best quarterback of all time.

On Friday, Slay said taking Manning over Brady shouldn’t be construed as a shot at the five-time Super Bowl-winning Patriots quarterback, and compared it to the LeBron James-Kobe Bryant debate of which he’s a vociferous Bryant supporter.

“I ain’t disrespecting Brady at all,” Slay said. “It’s just that I’m a big Manning fan. I’ve been a big Manning fan since I was a kid. Brady’s the G.O.A.T., but just like, I’m a Peyton fan.”

In his lone game against Brady in his career, a 34-9 loss to the Patriots in 2014, Slay had one assisted tackle and drew a defensive holding penalty while Brady threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns.

Injury report

Slay returned to practice on a limited basis Friday for the first time since he left last week’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers with a brain injury. Slay wore a red no-contact jersey at practice and said he’s not yet sure if he’s cleared to play in Sunday’s game.

“Just going through the process, doing whatever I can, just trying to get back,” he said. “That’s really it.”

Slay was one of four Lions starters listed as questionable for Sunday’s game along with defensive end Ziggy Ansah (shoulder), offensive guard T.J. Lang (back) and wide receiver Marvin Jones (ankle). Jones and Michael Roberts, who’s listed as questionable with a knee injury, were new additions to the injury report Friday.

As for his concussion, Slay said he had no interest in going back to watch the play it happened on, a third-quarter tackle on 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk — “Why would I watch the play?” he said — but acknowledged it was a scary moment for him and his family.

“I mean, who wouldn’t (worry about it)?” he said. “You do worry about it, but it’s a contact sport. Like I say, I signed up for it, I know the risks of it, so I’m just trying to take care of myself.”

Lions coach Matt Patricia said it’s imperative that his team plays better football coming out of halftime, starting with Sunday’s game against the Patriots.

“I think before the half we’re trying to do a good job of going out, keeping last possession, score before we go into halftime,” Patricia said. “We got to do a really good job with those halftime adjustments and coming out, executing at a higher level than what we’ve been doing in the third quarter. I think some of those things where you try to achieve something before the half and you kind of get that done or maybe it goes the way you would actually like it to, you kind of lose focus a little bit to start the third quarter. We got to move on, just be done with the first half and then get to the second half quicker from a mental standpoint and just be ready to go from the start.”

The Patriots (1-1) have scored just 10 points in the third quarter of their two games.

Briefly

Lions running back LeGarrette Blount was fined $10,026 for the penalty that resulted in his ejection last week against the 49ers. Blount came off the sideline to shove 49ers linebacker Elijah Lee after Lee's hard hit on Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.